Toronto will have to wait another time to be quiff-matized. Justin Bieber arrived in the city to perform a much-publicized acoustic set at a time when 21-year-old pop heartthrob’s latest hair style – a bleached-out side-swoop – is the subject of intense media scrutiny. But save for one fleeting onstage selfie moment, the pouty mop remained firmly tucked into a toque.

Sadly, it was probably for the best. Announced a week ago, the show was part fundraiser for Stratford House of Blessing – a non-profit organization in his hometown of Stratford, Ontario – and part-promotional, with a livestream on his website contributing to one billion social media impressions, according to his label Universal Music Canada.

Bieber is rebounding from his obligatory child-star meltdown period thanks in part to a savvy sonic rebranding and righteous new record, Purpose. While he isn’t ready to alienate the screaming tweens with sexually provocative lyrics just yet, doing a 90-minute unplugged provided a convenient excuse to keep the focus on music, rather than hair, abs, tattoos, etc.

As far as being a critic at this type of gig, the attraction is admittedly as much the spectacle – specifically unbridled emotionalism of Bieber’s die-hard fans – as it is the music.

Half of the 1,500-strong crowd comprised of screaming female fans who somehow managed to score the hard-to-get tickets, and then waited in line for more than 24 hours to score a front-row spot. The rest were less-outwardly excited music industry insider types who offset the giddiness up front with a silent vortex at the back the room. This dichotomy was not lost on Bieber.

“Who’s the oldest man in here?” he joked, three songs into the set. “Who here is 60?!” The fans screamed. “Who’s 50?!” They screamed even louder.

They shrieked the moment he walked on stage. They shrieked at the first part of his two-part answer to a fan-posed question about his favorite candy (Sour Patch Kids – Swedish Fish got the silent treatment). They shrieked when he asked us if we like Christmas. But they didn’t shriek when he sang, “And I thank God above for my very first Hanunnnnnnaaaakaaaaahhhh!”

And they shrieked while watching a 16-year-old fan choke back tears while he held her hand, looked into her eyes and sang, “There’s gonna be one less lonely girl.” As he walked away she looked toward the ceiling and – eyes and fists tightly clenched – and mouthed the words THANK. YOU. GOD.

“You make it so easy for me,” he said following a random deafening shriek. “I love it.”

The vibe of the show was “really loose,” as Bieber put it. On a tight schedule, he arrived in Toronto direct from London and so decided to wing the set list and take requests.

He opened with recent single What Do You Mean, finishing it off with a little R&B run at the end. During the ballads he shut his eyes and sang forcefully and the guitarist, Dan Kanter, whacked away at the strings equally forcefully, as if to push Bieber to sing louder, and he usually did. Love Yourself ended with the sideman on harmonica. During Boyfriend, he sang a cute little falsetto bit. When Kanter did not know Trust – a finger-snapping Purpose bonus track – Bieber performed it a capella. The fans sang along, but knew better than to clap along.

Bieber also had a few curveballs: he covered Drake’s Hotline Bling and Ne-Yo’s So Sick. A cover of Tracy Chapman’s acoustic staple Fast Car acknowledged his lesbian icon status and, for once, caused the front of the room to fall silent. He ended the main set playing Let It Be by the Beatles solo at the piano and encored with As Long As You Love Me.

It’s rare to see a pop star known for tightly choreographed arena shows wing it, but at times the show was a little too loose. He forgot the words to one of his Christmas songs (who wouldn’t?) and disappeared briefly leaving the guitarist to wander about looking confused.

While raising money for charity is nice and playing an intimate and special gig for die-hard fans, Bieber Unplugged felt like an opportunity to push back against the perfunctory motions pop stars must go through, even if all the audience wanted to do was scream like they were having the arena experience.

“It’s such a small crowd,” he said at one point. “I would love it if you guys would just listen.”